TV home screen
Featured carousel, a Your apps shelf, Movies and Shows tabs, and a top bar that slides away as you scroll.
Free · Open source · by zGenMedia
Android TV on mobile devices, finally.
Phone TV turns the old phone in your drawer into a living-room streaming box, and gives your Windows PC a clean lean-back TV screen through BlueStacks. A TV-style home screen, your Android TV apps, Plex, and the movies and shows people are watching — in a 70 KB APK built to run cool on older hardware.
70 KBAPK size. Smaller than one phone photo.
0Third-party libraries, ads or trackers.
8.0+Android version. Your 2017 phone qualifies.
$0Cost, forever. Optional coffee on Ko-fi.
The idea
That old phone is a better TV box than you think.
A phone from a few years ago has a fast SoC, Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth, hardware video decoding and, often, video out over USB-C. What it's missing is a lean-back interface you can drive from the couch. Phone TV adds that, so the phone works like a Shield-style streaming box — no new hardware, no e-waste.
| Old phone + Phone TV | New streaming stick | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | $0 | $30 – $200 |
| Screen built in | Yes — works as a portable TV | No |
| Sideload any APK | Yes | Varies by platform |
| Android TV app editions | Most install and launch | Yes |
| Home screen ads | None | Common |
| Remote included | Use any BT controller | Yes |
Features
Lean back. Everything's on the shelf.
Runs Android TV apps
Sideloaded TV (leanback) editions are detected, shown with their real TV banners and launched with the right intent.
TV-style tiles for phone apps
No more tiny phone icons. Banners are generated from each app's adaptive icon, or you can pick any image for any tile.
Plex built in
Link with a 4-character code. Continue watching with progress bars, plus recently added from your own server.
Tune the hero in 3 words
Tap Tune and type what you're in the mood for: asian romance, latest spanish, nigerian comedy, 90s action. The banner fills with matching titles. No menus, no account.
Your lists, your rows
Optional for power users: plug in public Trakt lists, like Black cinema, Nollywood, anime or festival picks, and each one becomes a row. Casual users never see it.
Runs cool on old hardware
Lazy-loaded art, images decoded at display size, a downsized disk cache and background-priority threads.
Private by default
No accounts, analytics or ads. Plex tokens stay on the device and are excluded from backups.
PC & Phone
The PC finally gets a lean-back screen.
Phone TV runs in BlueStacks, the free Android emulator for Windows. Hook a PC up to the TV, go fullscreen and you get the same clean couch interface you'd get from a streaming box: big artwork, your apps on one shelf, no desktop clutter. On a phone it adapts to portrait or landscape automatically.
Install BlueStacks
Download the free BlueStacks player for Windows from its official site and finish the setup.
Add Phone TV
Drag PhoneTV.apk onto the BlueStacks window, or use its Install APK button.
Go fullscreen
Open Phone TV and switch BlueStacks to fullscreen. Mouse and keyboard work out of the box, and BlueStacks supports game controllers too.
Windows 10 / 11BlueStacksLandscape layoutMouse & keyboardArrow keys page the hero
Setup
From drawer to living room in five minutes.
Install the APK
Download PhoneTV.apk on the phone and allow Install unknown apps. Samsung users: pause Auto Blocker while installing.
Make it Home
Press Home and pick Phone TV, or use Settings › Make Phone TV my Home screen.
Fill the shelf
Long-press any app to favorite it, reorder it or give it a custom tile. Install TV editions of your apps where they exist.
Go big
Plug into the TV and pair a controller. Settings › System bars hides everything but the content.
- HDMIUSB-C to HDMI adapterFor phones with DisplayPort Alt Mode. Older phones: MHL, or Cast / Smart View / Miracast.
- CTRLAny Bluetooth controller or air mousePhone TV supports D-pad focus, like a real TV launcher.
- PWRKeep it plugged inTurn on your phone's battery-protect / 85% charge limit if it has one.
adb
# sideload + set as Home from a computer (optional) $ adb install -r PhoneTV.apk $ adb shell cmd package set-home-activity \ com.kinglifer.tvlauncher/com.kinglifer.tvlauncher.MainActivity
Plex
Your server, front and center.
Open Settings › Connect Plex, type the code at plex.tv/link on any device, done. Phone TV finds your server and picks the fastest route: local first, then remote, relay last. No password ever touches the app.
Not a Plex user? Titles in the catalog rows open in whichever player you choose: Stremio, a Plex search, or the trailer.
plex.tv/link
BT79
Example code. The app shows yours and updates by itself once you're linked.
Under the hood
Built for old phones, not flagships.
Plain Java, framework views, zero dependencies. The whole screen is built in code and rebuilt in one pass on rotation. Art is fetched only when a card scrolls near the viewport, decoded straight to display size and cached on disk as a ~40 KB JPEG.
- Language
- Java 17
- minSdk / targetSdk
- 26 / 35
- Dependencies
- none
- Permissions
- INTERNET
- App discovery
- LAUNCHER + LEANBACK_LAUNCHER
- Catalog
- Cinemeta (no key)
- License
- GPL-3.0
app/src/main/java/com/zgenmedia/tvhome/
├─ HomeActivity.java screen, dialogs, actions
├─ AppRepository.java phone + TV apps, favorites
├─ TileArt.java TV banners, icon banners
├─ CatalogRepository.java catalog + offline cache
├─ PlexClient.java PIN link, server, rows
├─ ImageLoader.java downsample + disk cache
├─ MediaItem.java
└─ Prefs.java · Ui.java · Http.java
build
$ git clone https://github.com/zGenMedia/phone-tv.git $ cd phone-tv && ./gradlew assembleRelease
Changelog
What's new
v0.8.0 November 2026
- Phone TV now updates itself: new versions download in the background and install with one tap.
v0.7.0 November 2026
- Tune the hero: type 2–3 words like “asian romance” or “latest spanish”.
- Plex shows movies and TV only, never music videos.
- Now licensed GPL-3.0.
v0.6.0 November 2026
- Arrow keys and on-screen arrows move the hero carousel (keyboard, remotes, mouse).
- Optional Trakt list rows for curating your own home screen.
- Plex link now sticks, even if you leave the app to enter the code; clearer errors with Retry.
- Version shown on the right of the Settings header.
v0.5.0 November 2026 · first public release
- Plex: link with a code, Continue watching and Recently added rows.
- Android TV-style tiles for phone apps, plus custom tile images.
- Choose your player: Stremio, Plex search or trailer.
- Version number in the app; cleaner, documented codebase.
FAQ
Questions, answered.
Is this the real Android TV or Google TV?
No. Google's TV software only runs on certified TV hardware. Phone TV is an independent launcher that recreates the TV experience on a phone and runs the Android TV editions of apps you install.
Does it work on a Windows PC?
Yes. Install the free BlueStacks emulator, install PhoneTV.apk into it and open Phone TV. In fullscreen your PC gets a clean, lean-back TV interface for the apps you install in BlueStacks.
Which phones work?
Any Android phone or tablet on Android 8.0 (Oreo) or newer. It was built to run cool on older, low-memory hardware.
Will my Android TV apps work?
Most TV (leanback) editions install on phones, and Phone TV launches them correctly. Some expect a remote or lock to landscape — a Bluetooth controller or air mouse fixes both.
How do I connect the phone to my TV?
A USB-C to HDMI adapter if your phone supports DisplayPort Alt Mode, an MHL adapter on older models, or wireless Cast, Smart View or Miracast.
Where do the movies and shows come from?
The open Cinemeta catalog — the same metadata Stremio uses — with no API key or account. Linked Plex servers add your own library. Phone TV doesn't host or stream any content itself.
Can the banner show only the films I like?
Yes. Tap Tune on the banner and type two or three words, like “asian romance”, “latest spanish”, “nigerian comedy” or “korean horror”. Phone TV understands languages, countries, genres and years, and fills the banner with matching titles. Tap it again and choose Back to trending to reset.
Can I add my own movie lists?
Yes, if you're comfortable with an API key. Settings › Trakt lists (advanced) takes your free Trakt Client ID and up to five public list links, and shows each list as a row. It's a simple way to put Black cinema, international film or any niche you love front and center. Leave it off and nothing changes.
How do updates work?
From v0.8.0, Phone TV checks for new versions by itself, downloads them in the background and shows an Update ready card. One tap installs it over the top, keeping your favorites and settings. Android asks once to allow Phone TV to install updates.
Is it really free?
Yes — open source (GPL-3.0), no ads, no accounts, no tracking. If it saved you buying a streaming box, a coffee on Ko-fi keeps development going.
Support
Gave an old phone a second life?
Phone TV is free and always will be. Tips go straight into new features and testing on more devices.